Dangerous: the junction in the aftermath of the incident which killed Francis Golding (Picture: Nigel Howard)

A coroner has demanded rapid changes to a junction where three cyclists have died in the past decade.

Mary Hassell is to send Camden council a prevention of future death report after becoming “very concerned” at its lack of action in the six months since the death of architectural expert Francis Golding.

Mr Golding, 69, from Islington, collided with a tourist coach as it turned left across his path on November 5 last year at the junction of Vernon Place and Southampton Row in Bloomsbury.

A witness said he was thrown “like a rag doll” on to the road. He died in hospital three days later from a “severe head injury”.

Pathologist Dr Liina Kiho told the inquest there was a “strong possibility” that Mr Golding might have survived if he had been wearing a cycle helmet.

Mr Golding, one of the “big three” townscape and architectural advisers in London, had worked on the Unicorn Theatre and the More London estate.

His death, one of six in London in a fortnight last year, was the result of a “moment’s inattention”, Ms Hassell told St Pancras coroner’s court yesterday, where she recorded a verdict of death by road traffic collision.

She said she was dismayed Camden had “not really got to first base” in making improvements in the intervening period.

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The court was told there had been 77 injuries at the junction in the past 10 years, of which 29 were to cyclists. Three of those were fatalities.

Ms Hassell said: “It seems to me there is a particular vulnerability at this junction. I’m disappointed that Camden council, and whoever else needs to consider this, whether it’s Transport for London or whoever else, have not made great progress since Mr Golding’s death. I appreciate this is not a quick fix but it seems to me that progress so far has been slow.”

She added: “I find that the cycle hit the coach rather than the coach hitting the cycle. That may seem slightly pedantic but I think it’s helpful to understand how the collision occurred.” A police investigator said coach driver Joel Hobson would have had only two seconds to see Mr Golding in his mirrors.

Simon Shergold, who was cycling behind Mr Golding, said: “I don’t think he was paying enough attention… Within that tiny split second I realised he was going to go [straight] on, I was in shock.”

Mr Golding’s partner, Dr Satish Padiyar, a lecturer at the Courtauld Institute of Art, left the court when CCTV of the collision was played.